Eagledancer Youth & Family Services has recently moved into the Flagstaff area and is in search of loving foster homes to care for children who come from unfortunate circumstances. You can read the founders story and learn how you can help by sharing your loving home.
Eagledancer Founder’s Story
Ron Hatch was born May 2, 1946 in Sacramento, California, to alcoholic parents. He was the seventh of eight children and a Native American of the Miwok Tribe, located in Yosemite and the Sacramento Valley area.
For much of his young life, he was homeless. He remembers being left with his brothers and sisters in the car all night in front of the local bars. His parents would leave them at the all-night movies or at other people’s homes. Many times, they did not know when or if their parents would return.
Through the years, he was placed in and out of the orphanage, as well as many different foster homes, often found hungry, threatened, beaten or locked in dark closets. Growing up in this negative environment, he struggled with attachment issues and was constantly in trouble because of his negative behaviors.
Ron witnessed many horrible, tragic events in his life time and one that he remembers distinctively was the death of his father in a street fight on Skid Row in Sacramento when he was 12 years old. He grew very angry and swore vengeance on the person who killed his father. Ron turned his anger to everyone who cared for him, and finally, no foster home or orphanage was willing to take him in. He was then sent to the juvenile prison. At this point, Ron did not care anymore. His probation officer offered one last foster home, and Ron went into the home with a feeling of “no one is going to help or care for me, just send me to the juvenile prison.”
The foster family had five little children and was expecting another baby. The family members were kind and showed they really cared for Ron. It didn’t matter what he said or did to them, they still loved him. Ron was surprised they wouldn’t send him away because of his negative behaviors. When he decided they really cared, he finally began listening to what they were teaching him and began applying those principles to his life. Ron started getting his life straightened out and had a plan for his future. The unconditional love that he received made all the difference.
Ron graduated from high school and went on to college. He worked many different jobs before he served as Indian Education Director to the 55,000 students in the Mt. Diablo School District, the ninth largest school district in California. He then left this position because he wanted to become a home parent on a boys’ ranch, where he worked with 10 to 14 delinquent teenage boys at a time.
Throughout rough childhood, Ron dreamed of becoming a father and being able to give his children a safe and secure home that he never had. Ron is married now with 12 children of his own and has adopted three more.
During the past 30 years, Ron and his wife, Charla, have had more than 250 foster youth live within their own home. Over the years, many have kept in contact, sharing their lives with them. The majority of the foster children have stayed out of trouble. About one-third have been Native American youth.
One of Ron’s favorite sayings is:
“Blessed are those who dream dreams
and then are willing to pay the price
to make them come true.”
He said, “I love teaching and working with youth. I love giving them opportunities so that if they will pay the price of hard work and not give up, they can make their own dreams come true.” FBN
By Taylor Hatch
If you would like to be the family that may change a child’s life or even just give them a better opportunity to understand and feel the love of family and parents who care and show how important children are, contact Eagledancer Youth and Family Service at 928-401-6036.
Taylor Hatch is the director of Eagledancer Youth and Family Services located at 4 S. San Francisco St., Flagstaff, AZ. For more information, visit eagledancer.net.